| My rating | IMDb | Rotten Tomatoes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Critics | Audience | Critics | Audience | |
| 7.5/10 | 67/100 | 7.5/10 | 78% | 86% |
Adapting the stories of Sherlock Holmes to the screen (movies or television) has always been common. Recently, however, the number of adaptions has grown and they are always successful. There are the movies with Robert Downey Jr. as the famous detective, for example, as well as Benedict Cumberbatch in the great British TV show Sherlock and the American modern version, Elementary. Not to mention the influence Sherlock and Dr. Watson had on the TV show House.
As a fan of the books and everything Sherlock-related, I was extremely curious to see this version, with Sir Ian McKellen in Mr. Holmes. In this film, set mainly in 1947, we see a retired Sherlock, living alone in the countryside, only with a housekeeper (Laura Linney) and her son (Milo Parker). Sherlock is in his 90s and his memory is not as good as it used to be, so he decides to write his own version of what happened in his last (and unsolved) case before he completely forgets it. According to him, Dr. Watson invented a lot of the facts in order to make it more appealing to the audience (so he didn’t smoke a pipe nor wore that famous hat).
There are some flashbacks to two different periods, as he struggles to remember exactly what happened. As I watched it, I thought it took longer than I wanted for the story to actually start, but the pace got better and I really enjoyed it.
Sir Ian McKellen gives a great performance as Sherlock, especially given the fact that he has to portray the character in periods with 30 years between them. Laura Linney and Milo Parker are also great, even though I found Milo’s character a bit annoying…
To sum up, it’s a great movie, especially for those who enjoy any story about Sherlock Holmes.
